Ecclesiastes 10:12-13

Words and Works of Wise Men and Fools

10:12 The words of a wise person ¹  win him ²  favor, ³ 

but the words ⁴  of a fool are self-destructive. ⁵ 

10:13 At the beginning his words ⁶  are foolish

and at the end ⁷  his talk ⁸  is wicked madness, ⁹ 

Ecclesiastes 10:20

10:20 Do not curse a king even in your thoughts,

and do not curse the rich ¹⁰  while in your bedroom; ¹¹ 

for a bird ¹²  might report what you are thinking, ¹³ 

or some winged creature ¹⁴  might repeat your ¹⁵  words. ¹⁶ 

[10:12]  ¹ tn Heb “of a wise man’s mouth.”

[10:12]  ² tn The phrase “win him” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:12]  ³ tn Or “are gracious.” The antithetical parallelism suggests that חֵן (khen) does not denote “gracious character” but “[gain] favor” (e.g., Gen 39:21; Exod 3:21; 11:3; 12:36; Prov 3:4, 34; 13:15; 22:1; 28:23; Eccl 9:11); cf. HALOT 332 s.v. חֵן 2; BDB 336 s.v. חֵן 2. The LXX, on the other hand, rendered חֶן with χάρις (caris, “gracious”). The English versions are divided: “are gracious” (KJV, YLT, ASV, NASB, NIV) and “win him favor” (NEB, RSV, NRSV, NAB, MLB, NJPS, Moffatt).

[10:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “lips.”

[10:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “consume him”; or “engulf him.” The verb I בלע (“to swallow”) creates a striking wordplay on the homonymic root II בלע (“to speak eloquently”; HALOT 134-35 s.v בלע). Rather than speaking eloquently (II בלע, “to speak eloquently”), the fool utters words that are self-destructive (I בלע, “to swallow, engulf”).

[10:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “the words of his mouth.”

[10:13]  ⁷ sn The terms “beginning” and “end” form a merism, a figure of speech in which two opposites are contrasted to indicate totality (e.g., Deut 6:7; Ps 139:8; Eccl 3:2-8). The words of a fool are madness from “start to finish.”

[10:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “his mouth.”

[10:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “madness of evil.”

[10:20]  ¹⁰ tn Perhaps the referent is people who are in authority because of their wealth.

[10:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in chambers of your bedroom.”

[10:20]  ¹² tn Heb “a bird of the air.”

[10:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “might carry the voice.” The article is used here with the force of a possessive pronoun.

[10:20]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew phrase בַּעַל הַכְּנָפַיִם (ba’al hakkÿnafayim, “possessor of wings”) is an idiom for a winged creature, that is, a bird (e.g., Prov 1:17; see HALOT 143 s.v. בַּעַל A.6; BDB 127 s.v. בַּעַל 5.a). The term בַּעַל (“master; possessor”) is the construct governing the attributive genitive הַכְּנָפַיִם (“wings”); see IBHS 149-51 §9.5.3b.

[10:20]  ¹⁵ tn The term “your” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[10:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “tell the matter.”